Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E ... - IEEE-USA

CRS-13
million per year derived from royalties, rents, and bonuses from federal onshore and
offshore oil and gas leases. 37 Based on past experience, however, all of these
proposals would face challenges in Congress.
Several bills propose methods of funding ARPA-E directly through a revenue
source other than direct appropriations. Three climate change bills (S. 2191, S. 3036,
H.R. 6186) propose long-term funding for ARPA-E as part of a cap-and-trade
program. 38 An energy bill (H.R. 6067) proposes exchanging Strategic Petroleum
Reserve crude and direct funds from a prior sale, with some of the resulting funding
($100 million) directed to fund ARPA-E until those funds are expended. 39 Another
energy bill (H.R. 6670) proposes to use 25% of qualified Outer Continental Shelf oil
and gas lease revenues to fund ARPA-E and a number of other activities.
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Appropriations for ARPA-E would be in the Energy and Water Development
appropriations bill. Due to budget constraints, Congress may need to decide whether
funding for existing DOE energy R&D activities, the proposed technology transfer
collaborations and Energy Research Frontier Centers, or ARPA-E is more important.
An alternative is to reform existing DOE programs by incorporating some ARPA-E
or In-Q-Tel type aspects.
The House Committee on Appropriations draft FY2009 Energy and Water
Development appropriations report 40 would provide $15 million for ARPA-E, while
the Senate Committee on Appropriations bill and report (S. 3258; S.Rept. 110-416)
does not include any funding. CRS Report RL34417, Energy and Water
Development: FY2009 Appropriations, coordinated by Carl Behrens, provides
updates on the status of FY2009 appropriations discussions in this area.
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37
For more information, see CRS Report RL33493, Outer Continental Shelf: Debate Over
Oil and Gas Leasing and Revenue Sharing, by Marc Humphries.
38
For more information on these bills, see CRS Report RL33846, Greenhouse Gas
Reduction: Cap-and-Trade Bills in the 110 th Congress, by Larry Parker, Brent D.
Yacobucci, and Jonathan L. Ramseur.
39
For more information on this bill, see CRS Report RL33341, The Strategic Petroleum
Reserve: History, Perspectives, and Issues, by Robert Bamberger.
40
House Committee on Appropriations information is based on the draft bill and report as
provided on the Congressional Quarterly website as of August 1, 2008.